[Hearthstone] "Bad" Deck Review: Tempo Rush Warrior

No, this won't be a review of a trash deck, what would be the point heh... Rush Warrior is currently rated as Tier 3-4 deck, although not great its not the worse. Today I want to analyze why is this the case, maybe there is a potential in this archetype.

The reason I picked Rush Warrior is that it is a fairly new archetype, it started to be a thing since The Witchwood but didn't really have much success and only a few cards are used that will rotate out during the Year of the Dragon. This deck is in a weird spot because it is basically a form of midrange/tempo deck but it is too weak compared to Midrange Hunter, Tempo Rogue, Zoo Warlock, etc.

The game plan is pretty standard to midrange decks, out-tempo aggressive decks and get the grip on the board control, this is done with trading using rush minions, getting immediate value and board advantage. Versus control decks keeping up the pressure until they run out of answers.

The first problem I experienced with this deck is the early game consistency. Warrior doesn't have many 1 drops and because of this only runs Eternium Rover and Town Crier, often with 1 or 2 copies of Fire Fly. Town Crier is probably a best 1 drop for this deck but others are pretty weak, Rover is mostly just a 1/3 mech with its effect pretty much useless for this type of deck, the upside is that it can get magnetized by Zilliax.

The second problem is already again the consistency on turn 2. Drawing Prince Keleseth is really good but unlike other Keleseth decks (Tempo Rogue and Zoo Warlock) Warriors hero power is almost as passing a turn with this deck.

That said, turns 3-5 are basically where you should be able to stabilize or even take over the board with rush/charge minions, so all good there, Tar Creeper and Blood Razor also slow down aggressive decks enough to prepare for Fungalmancer or Darius Crowley turn.

Even though the mid game is really strong with this deck, it lacks ways to extend the lead and finish up the game. This isn't a big issue versus aggro decks since while you control the board you are pretty much winning the game. This is especially felt versus control decks suck as Odd Warrior or Control Priest. Only big threats are Lich King, Grommash and more or less Cairne Bloodhoof, so if the opponent gets rid of them, they will have an advantageous position.

One thing worth mentioning is that Mojomaster Zihi fits well in Rush Warrior and this is showing against Combo decks, so that is a plus during current meta with Clone Priest and Malygos Druid.

I kinda scrambled my thoughts on the deck so let's put it this way:

Pros: - Good against aggressive decks- Really strong midgame- Decent draw for a midrange style of play- Able to fit Mojomaster Zihi

Cons:- Inconsistent early game- Lack of big threats- Hero Power is pretty much useless - Bad against Heavy Control decks

Mulligan

In every match-up, on turn 1 Town Crier is a good play so that will be excluded from examples as you should go for it every game. Also, Keleseth is self-explanatory.

1-drops are really important because of how bad early game is with this deck, but Frothing and Tar Creeper trade good in most 1-2 drops and aren't that easily removed with early spells. Since the only thing to focus on in these match-ups is board control, having early game minions is essential.

Versus control decks like Odd Warrior, Control Priest, Odd Control Mage mulligan varies.

Frothing Berserker and Fungalmancer are the best cards against slow decks because Fungalmancer is easy to proc on two minions since they have a higher chance to stick for a turn in these match-ups and for the same reason Frothing is so good because it can become a huge threat just from surviving one turn on the board.

Versus combo decks, the only card that is important is Mojomaster Zihi. If played correctly you can get many extra turns before your opponent can pull off their combo due to lacking mana to do so.

Why even bother with this deck?

Even though this deck has a couple of problems and it is an unfortunate time in the meta for it to shine. This deck will definitely stay relevant after the rotation because its core and most of the cards currently on the list are from The Withwood expansion and later that will stay in the standard format. When Hunter and Paladin finally lose their powerful decks, Warrior will have quite some resources to work with on this archetype in the future and just maybe this one will be strong enough to end up in tier 1 or at least in tier 2.